CHP Spotlight Interview: Personalized Healthcare, Prevention, and Patient Advocacy with Dr. Nadia Sirdar

At Cohen Health & Performance, we often talk about the importance of looking at the whole person. Physical therapy and performance training are important, but they are only part of the bigger picture when it comes to long-term health.

In our latest CHP Spotlight Interview, Dr. Zac speaks with Dr. Nadia Sirdar, founder of Bethesda Modern Primary Care, to discuss personalized healthcare, preventive care, and the importance of having a connected healthcare team. Dr. Nadia brings more than 15 years of experience in internal medicine and a background in public health to her approach to patient care.

Meet Dr. Nadia Sirdar

Dr. Nadia Sirdar is the founder of Bethesda Modern Primary Care, a direct primary care practice focused on personalized healthcare, prevention, and stronger patient relationships.

Her practice offers patients direct access to their physician and a more individualized approach to managing their health. She also works with patients to help coordinate care and communicate with other healthcare providers when needed.

Why Preventive Healthcare Matters

One of the key topics we discussed was the importance of taking a more proactive approach to healthcare, especially during midlife.

Dr. Nadia explained that traditional healthcare can often become reactive, focusing on treating problems after they develop. Preventive care provides an opportunity to identify risks earlier and help patients make informed decisions about their long-term health.

For women in midlife, this can include paying attention to changes related to perimenopause and menopause, as well as broader areas of health such as:

Brain health
Bone health
Sexual health
Cardiometabolic health
Long-term disease prevention

The goal is not perfection or unnecessary optimization. It is about understanding your health and taking practical steps to support it.

The Value of Having a Healthcare “Quarterback”

One of the most interesting parts of our conversation was Dr. Nadia’s description of the physician as a healthcare “quarterback.”

Patients may work with multiple specialists, but without someone helping connect the different pieces, important concerns can sometimes be overlooked.

A primary care physician can help patients:

Coordinate care between specialists
Communicate important health information
Understand their treatment options
Identify broader health concerns
Make informed decisions about their care

Healthcare becomes more connected when providers work together and understand the bigger picture.

Why Communication Between Providers Matters

At CHP, we understand the value of collaboration. Physical therapists often work alongside physicians, coaches, and other healthcare professionals to help patients reach their goals.

Dr. Nadia shared examples of how communication with other providers can help address more than a single health concern. By looking beyond the immediate issue, healthcare professionals can better support the individual as a whole.

This same approach applies to sports physical therapy in Bethesda and McLean. Recovery and performance are influenced by more than the injury itself. A person’s goals, lifestyle, training demands, and overall health all play a role.

Personalized Care Starts With the Individual

There is no single approach that works for everyone. Whether someone is managing a health concern, recovering from an injury, or working to improve performance, care should reflect their specific needs and goals.

At Cohen Health & Performance, we believe individualized care and collaboration are important parts of helping people make progress. Understanding the person behind the injury or performance goal allows us to create a more thoughtful approach to rehabilitation and training.

To learn more about Dr. Nadia and Bethesda Modern Primary Care, visit bethesdadoctor.com.

Making Every Training Session Count: A Smarter Approach to Athlete Performance

There’s a good chance your athlete is doing a lot of training.

But are they training for what they actually need?

More exercises and more training do not always mean better performance. Sometimes, the biggest opportunity is understanding where an athlete is right now and what they actually need to improve.

At Cohen Health & Performance, we’re proud to be the exclusive physical therapy and performance training partners of Potomac Exiles Rugby Club. One of the ways we work with their athletes is through our Athlete Blueprint, a series of tests designed to give us a clearer picture of how an athlete moves, produces force, and performs.

Looking Beyond Strength

Strength is important, but it is only one piece of athletic performance.

Using our clinical expertise along with technology such as force decks and force frames, we can look at several different qualities that contribute to how an athlete performs.

We can assess:

Strength from side to side
Force production
Rate of force development
Jumping and landing performance
Explosiveness
Potential asymmetries
Areas that may need additional attention

This information can tell us more than simply whether an athlete is strong.

An athlete may have plenty of strength but struggle to produce force quickly. Another athlete may be highly explosive but lack the strength needed to support that explosiveness.

Those athletes may need very different training approaches.

Turning Data Into Better Training

The goal of the Athlete Blueprint isn’t simply to collect numbers.

It’s about understanding what those numbers mean and using them to make better decisions.

If we identify a meaningful difference from one side to the other, we can determine whether it needs to be addressed.

If an athlete has plenty of strength but needs to improve their rate of force development, we can incorporate more explosive work.

If an athlete has good explosiveness but needs additional strength, we may place more emphasis on strength development.

The goal is to build a more complete athlete while focusing on the areas that will have the greatest impact.

Making Limited Training Time Count

Athletes don’t have unlimited time to train.

Our rugby athletes have jobs, school, families, and other responsibilities outside of their sport. Their training time matters.

Instead of filling that time with exercises they may not need, testing can help us identify where their time is best spent.

This is where individualized performance training can make a difference.

The right training plan isn’t necessarily the one with the most exercises. It’s the one that addresses what the athlete actually needs.

Establishing a Baseline

Another benefit of the Athlete Blueprint is that it gives us a baseline.

We can test an athlete today, identify areas for improvement, and then reassess several months later.

Maybe their strength has improved.

Maybe they’ve become more explosive.

Maybe an asymmetry has improved.

Or maybe they’ve addressed the areas we initially identified and are ready for a new challenge.

The training plan should change as the athlete changes.

For higher-level athletes, testing may be repeated every few months. For other athletes, reassessing every six months may provide a useful look at progress.

The goal is to keep adjusting the plan as the athlete develops.

Building Better Athletes Through Individualized Training

You don’t have to be a professional athlete to benefit from this approach.

A high school athlete hoping to compete at the college level, a competitive club athlete, or an adult who wants to perform at a higher level can all benefit from understanding their strengths and areas for improvement.

At Cohen Health & Performance, our approach to sports physical therapy in Bethesda and sports physical therapy in McLean goes beyond simply addressing an injury. We want to understand the individual in front of us and help them build the strength, capacity, and confidence needed for their specific goals.

The Athlete Blueprint gives us another way to do that.

It’s not about finding everything that’s wrong with an athlete.

It’s about finding opportunities to help them become stronger, more explosive, more resilient, and more efficient.

Train With Purpose

The goal isn’t to train more.

It’s to train with purpose.

By understanding what an athlete actually needs, we can make better use of their training time and create a plan that evolves with them.

Whether you’re looking for sports physical therapy in Bethesda or sports physical therapy in McLean, our team can help you understand where you are now and build a plan around where you want to go.

Ready to take a more individualized approach to your training? Contact Cohen Health & Performance to learn more about our Athlete Blueprint and performance training.

Why You Shouldn’t Ignore a “Minor” Ankle Sprain

Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries athletes deal with, especially during the fall sports season.

A player rolls their ankle, feels some pain, maybe notices a little swelling, and is back on the field a few days later.

Because they can walk and the pain has improved, it can be tempting to assume the injury is no big deal.

But even a mild ankle sprain can change how your ankle functions.

And if you don’t properly restore strength, stability, and your ability to control the joint, that “minor” sprain can become the first step toward a much bigger problem.

What Actually Happens When You Sprain Your Ankle?

Most ankle sprains involve the ligaments on the outside of the ankle.

These ligaments help provide stability and give your nervous system information about where your ankle is in space. When they are injured, you can lose some of that stability and your ability to accurately sense the position of the joint.

This is one reason athletes can feel better before their ankle is truly ready for the demands of their sport.

Pain may decrease relatively quickly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve restored everything you need to sprint, jump, land, cut, and react.

That’s where proper rehabilitation becomes important.

The Problem With Simply Waiting for the Pain to Go Away

One of the biggest mistakes we see after an ankle sprain is using pain as the only measure of recovery.

If the ankle doesn’t hurt anymore, an athlete may assume they are ready to return to their normal training.

But there is more to returning to sport than being pain-free.

You also need to consider:

Ankle strength
Balance and proprioception
Joint stability
Ability to absorb and produce force
Landing mechanics
Single-leg control
Running and cutting ability
Confidence in the injured ankle
The specific demands of your sport

For example, walking around the house without pain is very different from sprinting down a soccer field, coming to a sudden stop, and changing direction on one leg.

Your ankle needs to be prepared for the environment you’re asking it to perform in.

Why Your Risk of Another Ankle Sprain Can Increase

After an ankle sprain, the injured ligaments may not provide the same level of mechanical stability they did before.

You may also experience changes in proprioception, which is your body’s ability to sense joint position and movement.

That matters because sports happen quickly.

When you’re reacting to an opponent, landing from a jump, or changing direction, you don’t have time to consciously think about where your ankle is.

Your body needs to recognize the position of the joint and respond appropriately.

If that system hasn’t been properly trained after an injury, the ankle may be more vulnerable when you return to competition.

This is one reason why athletes who have sprained their ankle before can be more likely to sprain it again.

Repeated Sprains Can Become a Bigger Problem

An athlete who repeatedly rolls the same ankle may eventually develop chronic ankle instability.

Instead of one isolated injury, they begin to experience a cycle of:

Sprain → incomplete recovery → decreased stability → another sprain

Over time, this can affect more than just the ankle.

If your ankle isn’t functioning properly, you may start changing how you move to avoid loading it.

You might shift your weight, alter your landing strategy, or compensate through the knee, hip, or other parts of the body.

The goal of rehabilitation isn’t simply to make the ankle feel better.

It’s to restore your ability to use the ankle effectively when your body is moving at higher speeds and dealing with unpredictable forces.

What Does Ankle Sprain Physical Therapy Look Like?

Effective ankle sprain physical therapy should be based on where you are in the recovery process and what you need to return to.

Early on, treatment may focus on reducing irritation and restoring comfortable movement.

As symptoms improve, the focus should shift toward rebuilding capacity.

That can include progressive strengthening, balance work, single-leg exercises, jumping, landing, running, and eventually sport-specific movements.

The progression matters.

An athlete shouldn’t go from walking without pain directly into full-speed cutting drills.

Instead, we want to gradually expose the ankle to the types of forces and movements it will experience during competition.

For a basketball player, that may mean progressing toward repeated jumping, landing, and quick changes of direction.

For a soccer player, it may involve sprinting, decelerating, cutting, and reacting to the movement of other players.

The exercises should reflect the demands of the person, not simply the diagnosis.

Sports Physical Therapy Should Prepare You for Your Sport

Returning to sport isn’t just about getting through a list of exercises.

It’s about making sure your body is prepared for the demands you’re going to face.

That’s especially important for athletes because competition is unpredictable.

You might land slightly off balance. You might have to react to another player. You might sprint, stop, and change direction multiple times in a short period.

Your rehabilitation should eventually challenge those same qualities.

This is one of the principles we emphasize with sports physical therapy at Cohen Health & Performance. We want athletes to build the strength, control, confidence, and capacity necessary to perform, not simply reach a point where everyday activities no longer hurt.

Don’t Let a Small Injury Turn Into a Recurring Problem

An ankle sprain may seem minor, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored.

If you’ve had an ankle sprain, the goal shouldn’t simply be to wait until the pain disappears.

The goal should be to restore the qualities that allow you to trust your ankle again.

That means rebuilding strength, balance, stability, and the ability to handle the demands of your sport.

At Cohen Health & Performance, our approach to sports physical therapy is individualized to the athlete, their injury, and their goals. Whether you’re dealing with your first ankle sprain or you’ve been dealing with repeated ankle injuries, the right rehabilitation plan can help you build back the capacity you need to stay active.

If you’re looking for ankle sprain physical therapy in Bethesda or McLean, our team can help you determine what your ankle needs to safely progress back to your sport and activities.

Don’t just get back to your sport. Build the capacity to stay there.

Back pain rehab in McLean: Why building resilience matters more than stretching

Back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting everyone from competitive athletes to weekend warriors and active adults. At Cohen Health & Performance, one of the biggest misconceptions we see is that back pain is always caused by a lack of flexibility or a “weak core.”

While those factors can sometimes contribute, successful back pain rehab in McLean often requires something many people overlook: improving your back’s ability to tolerate the demands you place on it every day.

Whether you’re lifting weights, running, playing sports, or simply trying to stay active, your spine needs to be strong enough to handle those loads.

Why mobility alone isn’t enough for back pain rehab in McLean

Many people with chronic back pain spend months stretching, foam rolling, or avoiding movements that seem to aggravate their symptoms.

Mobility certainly matters.

As physical therapists, we evaluate whether different segments of the spine are moving well, identify areas that may be stiff, and determine whether other parts of the body are forcing the back to compensate.

For example, limited hip mobility, reduced thoracic spine movement, poor trunk control, or strength deficits elsewhere can all increase stress on the lumbar spine.

Addressing these limitations is an important part of treatment.

However, improving movement is only one piece of the puzzle.

Your back also needs to tolerate load

One of the most overlooked aspects of back pain rehab in McLean is load tolerance.

Think about everything your spine experiences during a typical week:

Heavy squats and deadlifts
Running thousands of strides
Rotating during sports
Picking children up off the floor
Carrying groceries
Long days at work

Every one of these activities places stress on your spine.

When you’ve been dealing with back pain for weeks, months, or even years, your body’s alarm system becomes more sensitive. The back begins to tolerate less stress before pain appears.

This doesn’t necessarily mean your back is damaged.

It often means it has become deconditioned and needs to gradually rebuild its capacity.

Why avoiding movement can make things worse

Many people naturally avoid movements that hurt.

While that makes sense in the short term, avoiding movement forever can actually reduce your back’s resilience.

If your spine never experiences bending, rotation, compression, or loading, it never develops the capacity to tolerate those positions again.

Our goal during physical therapy isn’t simply to reduce pain.

It’s to restore confidence and build a spine that can handle real life again.

Three exercises we commonly use during back pain rehab in McLean

Every patient receives an individualized treatment plan, but here are three examples of exercises we commonly use depending on someone’s goals and presentation.

Jefferson curls

Many people believe they should never allow their back to round.

In reality, your spine bends every day.

Picking something up off the floor, tying your shoes, or getting into a car all require spinal flexion.

A Jefferson curl helps gradually improve your ability to control and tolerate this position. We often begin with body weight before progressing to light resistance when appropriate.

45-degree hip extension holds

This exercise develops endurance throughout the posterior chain, including the glutes, hamstrings, core, and spinal muscles.

Rather than asking one area to do all the work, these muscles learn to work together to support the spine during lifting and athletic activities.

Loaded walkouts and carries

Sometimes the goal is simply helping the spine become comfortable supporting load again.

Walkouts with a safety squat bar, carries, or loaded marches expose the spine to controlled compression before progressing to more demanding exercises like squats.

These progressions help rebuild confidence while increasing load tolerance safely.

Back pain rehab should match your goals

Not everyone needs the same exercises.

A powerlifter has very different demands than someone who enjoys hiking or wants to play with their grandchildren without pain.

That is why our physical therapists build individualized plans based on your goals, sport, activity level, injury history, and movement assessment.

The objective isn’t simply getting rid of pain.

It’s helping you return to the activities that matter most.

Looking for back pain rehab in McLean or Bethesda?

If you’ve been dealing with recurring back pain, don’t assume stretching alone will solve the problem.

Sometimes the missing piece is improving your back’s ability to handle the demands of your everyday life.

At Cohen Health & Performance, we provide individualized back pain rehab in McLean and Bethesda for active adults and athletes. Our team focuses on identifying the true cause of your symptoms while helping you build the strength, resilience, and confidence needed to return to lifting, running, sports, and everyday life.

If back pain has been limiting your workouts, your sport, or simply your daily activities, we’d love to help you get back to doing what you enjoy most.

Physical therapy Bethesda and McLean: Why your environment may be the key to a successful recovery

When most people think about recovering from an injury, they focus on the exercises themselves.

Am I doing the right stretches?

Should I add more strengthening exercises?

Do I need a different mobility routine?

Those questions certainly matter. But after working with thousands of patients over the years, we’ve found that one factor often determines success more than anything else:

Consistency.

At Cohen Health & Performance, one of the biggest reasons people make incredible progress isn’t because they perform magical exercises. It’s because they consistently complete the program we’ve designed for them. Whether you’re receiving physical therapy in Bethesda or physical therapy in McLean, creating an environment that supports your recovery can make all the difference.

Motivation comes and goes. Your environment doesn’t.

Everyone starts physical therapy motivated.

When you’re in pain, it’s easy to commit to doing your home exercises every day.

But life happens.

Work gets busy. Kids have activities. Dinner needs to be made. Before you know it, the exercises you intended to complete every day become something you’ll “get to tomorrow.”

The problem usually isn’t motivation.

The problem is that your environment isn’t making success easy.

Set yourself up for success

One of the simplest changes you can make is creating a dedicated space for your home exercise program.

If your resistance band is in one room, your foam roller is in another, and your weights are in the garage, you’ve already created several barriers before you’ve even started.

Instead, keep everything you need in one location.

Whether it’s a corner of your office, your basement, or your living room, designate one place where your exercises always happen.

Having your equipment visible also serves as a reminder throughout the day.

Sometimes simply seeing your resistance band sitting next to your desk is enough to prompt you to complete your routine.

Build your exercises into your existing routine

Another strategy we frequently recommend to patients is called habit stacking.

Rather than trying to create a brand-new habit from scratch, attach your exercises to something you already do every day.

For example:

Complete your exercises before making your morning coffee.
Perform your mobility routine before opening your work laptop.
Do your strengthening exercises immediately after walking the dog.
Finish your home program before sitting down to watch television.

Because the first habit already exists, adding the second becomes much easier over time.

Small changes create big results

Many people assume they need an hour every day to make progress.

In reality, consistency almost always beats perfection.

Ten focused minutes performed consistently will usually produce better results than an hour-long workout performed once every couple of weeks.

That’s why our physical therapists create programs that fit into your daily routine rather than disrupt it.

Why this matters during physical therapy

Whether you’re recovering from shoulder pain, knee pain, back pain, or a sports injury, your home exercise program is one of the biggest drivers of long-term success.

Your sessions at the clinic are important, but what happens between visits often determines how quickly you improve.

That’s why we don’t just prescribe exercises.

We help patients build routines they can actually stick with.

Physical therapy should fit your lifestyle

No two patients have the same schedule, family responsibilities, or goals.

Someone training for a marathon requires a different approach than a parent juggling work and three kids.

At Cohen Health & Performance, we build individualized plans that fit your lifestyle so your rehabilitation becomes something you can realistically maintain.

Because the best rehabilitation program isn’t the most complicated one.

It’s the one you’ll actually do consistently.

Looking for physical therapy in Bethesda or McLean?

If you’ve been struggling with an injury, recurring pain, or simply haven’t been able to stay consistent with your rehabilitation program, our team is here to help.

At Cohen Health & Performance, we provide individualized physical therapy in Bethesda and physical therapy in McLean, helping active adults and athletes recover faster, move better, and stay healthy for the long term.

We’ll not only build the right treatment plan for your injury, but we’ll also help you create habits and routines that make lasting recovery possible.

One size doesn’t fit all: Why the right diagnosis matters for back pain rehab

Back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek physical therapy. Yet many people spend months or even years trying stretches, exercises, or treatment plans that never address the actual source of their pain.

At Cohen Health and Performance, we see this every day in our back pain rehab McLean and Bethesda clinics. Many of our patients have already seen multiple providers before they arrive. They have completed physical therapy, rested, modified their workouts, or tried injections, but their symptoms continue.

The reason is often simple. Back pain is not one condition. Different diagnoses require different treatment strategies. There is no one size fits all approach.

If the treatment does not match the diagnosis, progress is often slow or nonexistent. In some cases, the wrong exercises can even make symptoms worse.

Here are two of the most common causes of back pain that we treat and why each requires a completely different rehabilitation approach.

Spinal stenosis

Spinal stenosis occurs when the space around the spinal cord becomes narrower, creating compression within the spine. It is most common as we get older but can affect active adults who still want to hike, golf, travel, lift weights, or keep up with their grandchildren.

People with spinal stenosis often experience:

Pain, numbness, or tingling into both legs
Difficulty standing upright for long periods
Increased symptoms with walking or standing
Relief when sitting or leaning forward

The goal of conservative treatment is to reduce the positions that increase compression while improving the body’s ability to move efficiently.

In our clinics, treatment often focuses on:

Learning to stack the pelvis underneath the hips instead of standing in excessive lumbar extension
Improving control of intra-abdominal pressure to better support the spine
Increasing hip mobility so movement comes from the hips instead of the lower back
Building strength that allows patients to return to daily activities with less pain

One of the first exercises we teach many patients with spinal stenosis addresses these exact goals.

Below is a video demonstrating one of the exercises we frequently use early in the rehabilitation process.

Disc bulge or herniation

A lumbar disc bulge or herniation occurs when disc material pushes beyond its normal position. Many people have disc bulges without ever knowing it. Problems occur when that disc places pressure on one of the nerve roots leaving the spine.

Unlike spinal stenosis, symptoms usually travel down one leg rather than both. Many people notice increased pain with bending forward, although every person’s movement preferences are slightly different.

Treatment focuses on reducing stress on the irritated nerve so inflammation can settle and symptoms begin to improve.

Once symptoms calm down, rehabilitation shifts toward answering the bigger question.

Why did the injury happen in the first place?

Sometimes the answer is poor hip mobility. Sometimes it is weakness, movement mechanics, training volume, or recovery habits. Identifying and correcting the underlying cause is one of the most important parts of preventing future flare ups.

Why an accurate diagnosis matters

These are only two examples of low back pain. Other conditions, including muscle strains, spondylolisthesis, facet joint irritation, and sacroiliac joint dysfunction, all require different treatment strategies.

That is why an individualized evaluation matters.

At Cohen Health and Performance, we don’t hand every patient the same sheet of exercises. We identify the source of your pain, understand how your body moves, and build a rehabilitation plan that fits your goals, whether you want to return to lifting, running, golf, or simply live without constant back pain.

If you are searching for back pain rehab in McLean or back pain rehab in Bethesda, our team specializes in helping active adults and athletes get lasting results by treating the cause of the problem, not just the symptoms.

Ready to stop guessing and start making progress? Schedule an evaluation with our team and let’s build a plan that is specific to your back, your goals, and your lifestyle.